Best of Budapest & Hungary

Pittsburgh’s Signs of the Swarm are one of the most exciting and uncompromising bands in contemporary deathcore. Blending modern metal grooves with technical riffs and surprisingly memorable choruses, the band will bring their explosive live show to A38 Ship on February 19, joined by ten56., Oceans Ate Alaska and Face Yourself.

    Since forming in 2014, Signs of the Swarm have steadily built a reputation across the international extreme metal scene. The quartet - vocalist David Simonich, drummer and songwriter Bobby Crow, guitarist/backing vocalist Carl Schulz, and bassist Michael Cassese - has long moved beyond familiar deathcore formulas. Their songs are brutal, groove-laden and melodic in equal measure.

    Their sixth full-length album, To Rid Myself of Truth, is one of the band’s heaviest and most personal releases to date. Produced by Josh Schroeder, whose previous work includes Lorna Shore, Mental Cruelty and King 810, the record also draws on the influence of Meshuggah, Gojira and Fear Factory - bands the members grew up listening to.

    The songs are intense in more than just musical terms. Simonich writes openly about his struggle with addiction, while “Clouded Retinas” addresses Stargardt disease, a condition that progressively damages his vision. Alongside these deeply personal themes, the album also tackles wider social issues: “Natural Selection” reflects on the current political climate, while “Fear & Judgment” takes aim at prejudice.

    Over recent years, Signs of the Swarm have performed to ever-growing audiences across North America and Europe, sharing stages with the likes of Lorna Shore, Fit For An Autopsy, Whitechapel, Thy Art Is Murder, Suicide Silence and Carnifex. Now they return to Budapest with their elemental live energy, joined by the formidable ten56., Oceans Ate Alaska and Face Yourself. This lineup guarantees a crushing night of deathcore and modern metal.